The Clarinda A’s are on a 4 game winning streak in the M.I.N.K Leagues North Division, and only 1 game behind the 1st place St. Joseph Mustangs. Starting pitchers are only involved in games about once a week, but the effect they have on the teams’ morale is undeniable, especially if that pitcher controls his outings like a chef with a sharp blade. Mark Trentacosta, a 6’4 left handed sophomore with the Clarinda A’s this summer has started 3 games and is 2-0, 1.33 after 21 innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 22-7 and opposing hitters have been limited to a .192 batting average against him. The domination Trentacosta possesses this summer comes from his experience pitching in the Orange Empire Conference. His team, the Golden West Rustler Athletics finished 2 nd behind a tough Santa Ana club. The hitters in that conference are potent and Trentacosta was 2-2, 4.06. He completed 2 strong games in college, and in his last two starts with Clarinda this summer he went for 7 innings each time and only allowed 1 earned run, while striking out 17. His size could make him a workhorse, but those things will be proven over time.

The Chillicothe Mudcats are 3 games behind Clarinda and 4 games behind St. Joseph in 3rd place. After a 3 game losing streak, the Mudcats are striving to play catch up with a month and a half of baseball left. Cory Trudell is pitching for the Mudcats this summer and is proving a powerful accuracy. In his 4 games of action he’s 3-1, 1.11 after 19 innings. His 26 strikeouts are much more meaningful when you look at the batting average against him (.136). Last spring at Bellevue University, Trudell was only involved in 8 games and was banged up in his 11.2 innings of work. He gave up 12 hits, which averaged to about 1 hit per inning which in itself is not too bad. His 15 strikeouts show a potential packed punch of power and relative command of the strike zone, but he didn’t pitch himself out of jams well enough and his ERA went over the statistical comfort zone (4.63). Overall, Trudell and Trentacosta are two of the M.I.N.K Leagues strongest pitchers thus far.

Offensively, two hitters in the South Division are racking up hits and sustaining the highest league averages for hitters with 40+ at bats. For the 1 st place Sedalia Bombers who also have the best record in the entire league (11-3 .786%), their leading hitter is a junior outfielder named Matty Johnson. As a Bomber this summer he’s hitting .407 after 59 at bats and has 5 stolen bases. He’s on a 10 game hitting streak that started on the first game of the summer back on June 6. As a collegiate hitter, Johnson played for Shorter College of the Southern States Athletic Conference where he led everyone with a batting average of .434 after 189 at bats. The other hitter that the league can’t put a shackle on is Cody Quinn. Quinn is an infielder for the 2 nd place Nevada Griffons and leads the entire league with a batting average of .425 after 40 at bats, and has the 2nd highest slugging percentage (.725). This past spring he was at Bridgeport University. The ground didn’t exactly shake with his .275 batting average, but growth is only measured in the present moment with every new at bat and right now he has the 2nd highest on base percentage (.500). The Sedalia Bombers are not in 1st place out of luck or because certain situations have gone their way, they lead the league in both team hitting (.306) and team pitching (1.98) solidifying a much deserved league dominance.